Having a garnishee order filed against your name often means that you need to be prepared to make payments on a monthly basis until the particular debt has been paid off.
A garnishee order is a court order that is served by the sheriff (or messenger) of the court on the employer ordering the employer to make deductions from an employee’s salary or wage in the settlement of a debt owed by the employee to a third party creditor.
The specified amount is deducted until the debt has been paid in full.
The deductions include the full amount of the money loaned, the interest on the outstanding balance as well as sheriff fees.
But errors do happen and you may find yourself liable for a garnishee order which you have no idea about. What can you do to cancel the garnishee order?
Under what circumstances is it possible for a garnishee order to be cancelled?
Even though the process can be quite time-consuming, it is possible to appeal against creditors and their attempted garnishments.
You can file a “claim of exemption” with the court that served you the garnishee order. This will call the creditors off while preventing them from issuing new garnishee orders.
It’s important to seek assistance from a legal expert in such cases. For instance, a seasoned tax lawyer could provide the ideal counsel in such a case. It’s often advisable that you steer clear of debt counselling agencies for getting a garnishee order cancelled.
The Magistrate’s Court Act provides that an order can be set aside if a good reason can be shown for doing so.
For instance, if you’ve already paid the debt in question, or if you’ve paid a portion of the debt and the amount claimed is too high.
It’s also possible for a garnishee order to be cancelled if you have never incurred the debt. It’s necessary to go to court to have the court order set aside.